Guiding Light
by Tindra44
Summary: Julie Booker is a quiet girl who is trying to get through school with her brothers. What will happen when she is assigned to tutor Matthew Bellamy? Will she begin to open up and romance bloom? Or will everything come crashing down? MUSE high school setting


The drama studio was silent. Not a thing could be heard. The room was large with a section of chairs that rose as they went on, providing an audience. Curtains concealed half of the room in order to provide cover the entertainers to prepare and concealed the entrance and fire escape. There were only four lone students at the bottom, centre stage at a table clutching onto cards, staring at each other intently.

One was female, one with long brown hair and grey eyes wearing black jeans, white shirt and a black Rage Against the Machine hooded top. The brown haired girl was of medium build, curves and stood at 5.5ft with large, black framed glasses perched on her nose.

One of the males had black hair with grey eyes. He stood the second tallest of the group with broad shoulders and thing appendages. His face was long and defined with high cheek bones. He wore a white shirt, sleeves rolled up with a blue and silver tie, tucked into his trousers.

One had a mess of dark brown hair atop his head with grey eyes. His short arm white shirt was open, revealing a green t-shirt with his tie hanging around his neck undone. He was the tallest of the group. His face was round with a slightly stubble forming around his chin.

The last one had short, light brown hair that looked perfectly placed with grey eyes. He stood as the shortest of the males but slightly taller than the female. He wore a white shirt with a thin black hoodie, his sleeves matching the black haired male. His face was a combination of the other two males; his face was slightly defined and slightly rounded.

The messy brown haired one gave an evil smile to his group as he placed his card down with a cry

"Black King!" He cried, smiling triumphantly as he looked over to the black haired male. He smiled sympathetically to the brown haired boy.

"Sorry." He placed down another black king. The suite was clubs. The brown haired boy looked at the female to his side, shrugged and placed down a two of clubs, watching the female intensely, waiting for her next move. She looked over to the grinning boy, who seemed to be basking in glory a little too early and with a slight smile she put down a two of spades. The grin soon vanished from the boy's face and was replaced in shock, looking at the girl with wide eyes.

"No…" he looked to the black haired male who shrugged, then to the brown hair boy who was laughing at his misfortune. "No…" he looked back to the brown haired girl who smiled.

"NO!" He screamed, planting his head in his hands as he pretended to cry.

"Oh stop being a baby Al and pick up fourteen cards!" said Ross, who was smiling at his brother's misfortune.

"Why did you do that to me, Jules? How could you be so cruel?" He cried as he picked up the cards.

"Hey, I wasn't going to pick up twelve cards, I'm too close!" Julie 'Jules' said, presenting the two cards left in her hand. Alan 'Al' continued to whine as he gathered his cards.

"Yeah, you with your two cards left! What about the rest of us!" Julie merely chuckled.

"I don't care if I win or lose as long as you lose, Al," Timothy 'Tim' said while smiling from his previous laughing fit. Alan glared at his brother who retaliated by sticking out his tongue. Julie giggled slightly at her brothers immaturity before looking to Ross.

"Your turn Ross." Ross nodded.

"Right, by the way, I heard you signed up for the tutoring program," Ross commented as she placed a four of spades. Alan and Timothy looked at their sister in disbelief.

"What do you need a tutor for? Since when are you falling behind in class," Alan asked.

"You could have just asked Ross for help because you know how useless Al is," Timothy said, placing down a five and anticipating his brother's reaction of him lunging across the table to grab him by moving his chair back.

"Hey, enough of that!" Ross said, pulling Alan back and making him sit. Julie decided to talk before Alan lunged for Timothy again.

"I'm not looking for a tutor, I am being a tutor. Last card," She said as she placed another five down and changed the suite to diamond. Alan looked through his cards before deciding on placing a pair of threes, the suite now became hearts.

"How come you're doing that?" He asked.

"Its money," She said with a slight shrug. The tutor program allowed students with a good academic record to tutor other students that needed help in certain classes. They were paid by the parents of the student and it was a debatable price depending on how many classes they needed tutored in. Julie saw it as a way to earn extra money, if she was chosen of course.

"You are one of the more popular ones. Some of them, I don't even understand why they thought they had a chance," Ross commented as he placed down nine of hearts. Ross knew this as he was the head of the student council and was very involved with school relations and projects. He took pride in his work and had much respect off students and teachers alike.

"Now, now no need to be rude," Alan said as he watched Julie intensely, seeing what her next move was. She smiled and placed down her last card, five of diamonds, cheering as she did so.

"I win!" She cried in triumph as the other two groaned.

"Of course she wins!" Alan whined as he threw his cards to the table. Alan was always acting the drama queen, a fact he was proud of as his main talents laid in drama. Julie couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Alan despite the fact he was willing to let her pick up ten cards. Timothy laughed at him.

"Yes! How does it feel to once again loss?"

"Shut up, you twat," Alan shot back.

"What are you going to do about it?" Without warning, Alan jumped across the table grabbing Timothy and dragging him off his chair. The two began to play fight with each as Julie and Ross looked on. Julie looked at her brother, looking to see if he was going to ask her to stop it. He shook his head.

"Leave them. So, anyway, do you know who you are going to tutor yet?" He asked Julie. Julie replied with a shrug as she collected the fallen cards.

"No replies yet." She hadn't heard anything from the teachers or staff. Just that they would get in touch with her when someone selected her. That had been a week ago.

"It may take some time. You'll find some parents are rather picky with who tutors their children. Some want the best as there are a few students that are failing badly and it may affect their educational outcome," Ross explained. Julie nodded.

"Yeah, I know. I just hope I get someone who doesn't hate me." Julie had never been popular. In fact, she barely had any friends outside of her brothers. She had a few acquaintances but nothing to go as far as calling someone her friend. She wasn't hated; she just never talked to anyone outside with who she felt a little comfortable with thus no one talked to her…unless it was an insult from someone feeling a little frisky.

"Don't worry, just tell me if anyone says anything and I'll have them suspended," Ross said with a grin. What scared Julie is Ross actually had that power and would have no problem doing so if it concerned the safety and wellbeing of his siblings. He acted the older brother to them. Yes he was the first born but they were all the same age, being fraternal quadruplets.

"Eh…that won't be necessary," Julie said with a smile, feeling nervous by the prospect of suspending someone.

"Nonsense, just give me a name and everything will be fine," Ross continued.

"I like how we are planning suspension before she is even given a mind to mould yet," Alan said, emerging from his fight with Timothy with even more messy hair. Timothy returned to his own chair, giving a laugh and a show of his large teeth.

"Well, one must always be prepared," Ross said, smiling at his brother. Alan shrugged.

"Yes, especially when planning to remove one from school," He said with a laugh.

"But, like I said, I'm still waiting to get picked," Julie said.

"I think you will be picked sooner than you think. I'm pretty sure a woman was interested in you tutoring their son," Ross explained. Alan made a scoffing noise at the statement.

"Knowing our luck, he'll probably fall in love with Jules," He said, making her blush slightly.

"Sh-shut up, Al!" She cried, making her brother laugh.

"It's true, the boy will probably be so grateful and overwhelmed by your gracious nature that he will fall head over heels for you and we will be there to tell him to bugger off when he becomes a creeper stalker."

"Alan Booker; talking shit since birth," Timothy said with a grin, seeing Alan shoot him a mock glare once again.

"Now, now, let Al have his little daydream," Ross told his brother.

"Not my fault that Jules has fantasies about having stalkerish romances with her students," Alan said, making Julie cry out in frustration.

"I haven't even got a student yet!"

"So you admit you have the fantasies?" Alan smirked at his sister's stuttering. Alan was always the funny man. He would be the first to insult or make fun when he had the chance. He cared deeply for his siblings...just liked to mock them from time to time.

"Oh, leave it Al. Just cause you can't get a girl doesn't mean you can undermine Julie's attempts," Timothy interjected.

"Same to you, little brother," Alan said.

"We're quadruplets, we are the same age!"

"Still older."

"By like five minutes!"

"Still older!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Ross' voice boomed over the two, making them stop their bickering at the sound of their brother's 'authority' voice.

"Sorry," They said simultaneously.

Julie laughed at her brothers' misfortune. Alan and Timothy usually bickered like this, it started with something little and just grew, waiting for either Ross or Julie to break it up. They didn't mean anything by it, it was just their way with each other.

The bell interrupted the group, signalling the end of lunch and beginning of fifth period which meant Computer Networking for Julie.

"I better get a move on. I don't want to be late and get all the crappy stuff," Julie said as she put the cards into her bag, zipping it up as she stood from her seat and swinging the bag over her shoulder.

"I'll come with you," Ross said, gathering his things. Ross had French which was a level above Julie's class meaning he could walk with Julie to class.

"And I'll just stay here...alone..." Alan drew out. Drama was next on Alan's schedule meaning he could just stay where he was. Alan was the main reason why they could use the drama studio to spend their lunch in; the teachers trusted him and didn't mind him using the studio, believing that he was practicing during lunch. This was true the majority of the time.

"I've got Music now, I'll see you guys later," Timothy said, giving them a slight wave before leaving. Timothy was one of the top students in Music due to his composing and saxophone skills. He enjoyed composing his own music and creating it using synthesizers and such, being in charge of music concerning school plays and projects.

"See ya," The three remaining said in unison.

"I'll see you in Maths yeah?" Julie asked, prepared to leave and was now waiting on Ross. Alan shrugged.

"Got nowhere else to be and I'm sort of obligated to go so yes."

"Couldn't you have just said yes?" Ross asked. Alan smiled, giving his brother and sister a wink.

"Oh but that would be too easy!" Ross gave a roll of his eyes before moving out.

"Let's go." Julie followed suit, shouting a bye and a wave to Alan before exiting the drama studio.

The wide, white hall began to flood with students wearing similar attire; white shirts with black jumpers, cardigans or nothing but the shirts and a blue and silver tie. Black trousers, skirts or jeans with black shoes. Some students took the uniform and managed to make their own out of it, such as Julie but it never settled well with teachers but as long as it was black and decent they didn't say much.

Julie and Ross joined the mass of students, listening to them murmur, talk and shout.

"I can see three students who need reminders on the school uniform," Ross commented, pointing in front of them a trio of girls who skirts were short enough for any perverted mind to sneak a peek. Julie cringed at the sight.

"That's disgusting."

"They've already been told off but it looks like a detention is in order." Julie nodded, the girls leaving their sights as the two girls turned a corner to reach the next section of the building.

"So how is Computer Networking going?" Ross enquired.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm enjoying it and my partner isn't bad but he's the main reason why I can't be late," Julie said.

"Why is that?" Ross asked.

"Because he's nearly always late so I need to be there first in order to get the good equipment," Julie explained.

"Who's your partner?" Julie raised an eyebrow at Ross. She had told Ross, along with her other two brothers before who her partner was since they were well into the school year; the month was October.

"I've told you this before," Julie explained, earning a look of questioning from Ross.

"You did?"

"Yeah, you asked me what was new and I told you that I got assigned a partner," Julie said. Ross scratched her head, showing embarrassment that he could not recall the conversation.

"I'm sorry; I must have blanked it out or something."

Julie waved him off. "It's fine but to answer your question it's a guy called Dominic Howard."

"I think I've heard that name before. I think I'm in a class with him," Ross said.

"He's got blonde hair, kind of tall and, if I heard him right, he's in a band," Julie said, trying to help Ross recall any more. Ross gave a knowing smile and nodded. "Oh yes I know him."

"What does that mean?" Julie asked, hearing there was another meaning behind it.

"The band, um, I forget the name is looking for a new guitarist and they asked if they could hold audition in the drama studio. We agreed...but that trust was broken when one of boys auditioning decided to destroy the amp we supplied them. Needless to say, parents were called, arrangements for payment were made and we are gonna think twice about letting people hold that type of event," Ross explained, ending with a small smile.

Julie blinked at Ross, surprised by the story. She was surprised Ross didn't tell her the story before. Usually Ross would tell their family all of his 'interesting' stories from being the head of the student council but he had never mentioned that before.

"How come you didn't tell me?" Julie enquired. Ross shrugged slightly.

"I was gonna but the whole thing became a bother and other things came up." Julie really couldn't argue with Ross. There was a lot that came with being part of the student council so she didn't pry further.

"Right, this is my stop," Julie said as they reached her class. Ross stopped to give her a one arm hug.

"I'll see you at the gate," He said before walking off.

Julie ventured into the classroom, seeing that some students had the same idea as her and were gathering the equipment from the boxes their teacher, Mr Helon, had brought in. The room was large and white, with benches on each wall and a large one in the centre of the room. Each had five computers on them, ten for the centre one, with small desk space in front for writing notes and setting up networks.

"Alright guys just continue on from where we left off," Mr Helon called to the students in the class.

Julie went to her seat at the back centre bench, placed her stuff down and went to collect the things for the lesson. She remained silent as the rest of the students bickered and talked amongst each other, allowing her to slip past them and collect two laptops, a network station and two network cables. She went back to her seat and began to set up the equipment.

"Hey, there partner! Oh, like the hoodie!" Julie turned to see her partner, the blonde, attractive student drummer Dominic Howard grinning at her as he set his things down.

"Hi and thanks," She said, resuming setting everything up.

"So what is on our agenda today?" He asked, falling into his seat with his arms behind his head.

"We are just picking up where we left off the other day," She explained, finishing the set up before sitting down in her own seat and began to boot the laptop.

"Oh, joy," Dominic groaned, making Julie smile slightly. From what Julie could tell, Dominic had little to no interest in the class, taking it as there was nothing else in the selection that interested him. He said himself that he was grateful to have her as a partner because he never seemed to pay attention and Julie was happy to fill him in.

"We will need to set up the IP addresses again and such," She explained further, already beginning the process. Dominic let out a noise of annoyance pushing, himself up to lean on the desk and poking the on button on his laptop.

"I don't get how you can remember all this," He said, staring blankly at the screen. Julie shrugged.

"I enjoy it," She replied.

"How?"

"I just like computers, I guess." Julie didn't really have an answer for him. She just enjoyed working with computers.

"Well, I can't complain, just means I have one of the smartest people in the class as a partner," He said, flashing a grin. She returned a smile while nodding a little.

"When your computer gets booted, I'll tell you what to do," She said.

"You're too good to me," Dominic said, beginning to mess around with the computer.

Julie liked Dominic but couldn't understand how he acted so comfortable with her despite knowing her in such a short time span. For her, it was difficult to act freely around someone she just met. It took her a while to open up to people and she had to be comfortable around them. She barely knew anyone in the school outside her brothers. It was hard for her, given her past experience...

"Uh...what does this mean?" Dominic asked, breaking Julie away from her thoughts. She looked over to see a red light flashing.

"It just means the battery is going. Just plug it into the mains," She told. Dominic nodded and started doing so.

"Thanks. By the way, can I ask you something?" Julie stared at him for a minute before nodding, wondering what he was going to ask her. "Do you know any guitarists?"

"Uh, sorry I don't," Julie said, her mind wandering back to the story Jade had told her. '_Must have not found a guitarist,' _She thought.

"Crap. See my band is looking for one because our last one was an arse. We held auditions but...they didn't end well," He said, ending on a slight chuckle. It seemed he didn't want to mention the incident. Julie shook her head.

"Sorry, I don't know anyone that plays guitar."

"I thought you might have because you hang around with that saxophone player that does the music for the plays and that," He continued, referring to Timothy. Julie wondered how he knew she hanged around with Timothy, ending on the assumption that Dominic probably seen them hang out somewhere in school.

"All Tim does is compose and play the sax...but I'll ask him if he knows anyone," Julie said, earning another smile from Dominic.

"That would be great. We are getting desperate and were about to ask any guitar player that we found to joining. Thanks." Julie waved him off. It wasn't like he was asking anything big of her. It was just asking Timothy a question. She could handle that.

"It's fine. Now, go to the start menu..."

* * *

"Oh god, that was mind numbing," Alan said as the bell finished it's screaming.

"It wasn't that bad," Julie offered. Alan looked at her with lowered eyes.

"Because you know this shit! I just follow you!" Julie laughed slightly at his outburst.

It was the end of the school day. Math had just finished, meaning Julie and Alan were free to go home. All that remained was to pick up Ross and Timothy and walk home together. Julie and Alan stood from their desks with the rest of the students and began to gather their things.

"Do you think Tim will know any guitarists?" Julie asked Alan who nodded.

"I'm sure he does. I mean, he's in Music and does write it so I'm sure he works with them. Why do you ask?" Alan asked. Julie shrugged.

"My partner in Computer Networking asked me to ask Tim to see if he knew anyone for his band," Julie explained. Alan began growing a slight smile.

"Aw, you're making friends!" He said happily.

"I'm just helping out," Julie said.

"Yes, you're being friendly by being helpful." Julie rolled her eyes at his comment. "But seriously, just ask Tim for a list or something. I'm sure..." Alan let his last sentence fall to the wind as he stared at the door.

"What is it?" Julie asked, following his gaze to the door. Ross had just walked into the room, holding a piece of paper, heading towards the teacher, Mr Wallsmen. They speak for a minute before looking over to the pair at the back.

"Miss Booker," Mr Wallsmen called. Julie looked to Alan with wide eyes. Alan shook his head.

"Don't look at me. I hardly think Ross wouldn't warn you if you were in trouble," He encouraged. Julie nodded. She didn't need to worry, she hadn't done anything wrong. Julie made her way down to the teacher's desk with Alan following close behind her.

"Yes sir?" Julie asked. Jade spoke first.

"You've been selected as a tutor," Alan said with a smile. Julie let out a sigh of relief as Alan let out a cry of joy.

"Wahay! You've been picked! By who?"

"A student who is failing miserably in this class and his test marks need picking up or there is going to be problems," Mr Wallsmen explained with a hint of distaste in his voice.

"Who is it? When will I be starting?" Julie asked.

"You need to discuss it with him and his parent. That's why I'm here, to take the two of you to the council room to discuss it," Ross said.

"Oh for god's sake! Will you tell us who it is! It's killing me," Alan said. Julie sniggered as Ross rolled his eyes.

"He is still here. Bellamy! Get over here!" Mr Wallsmen called out, giving Julie, Ross and Alan a slight scare. Julie noticed the distaste had returned to his voice as he called out for the student.

"Yes?" Said a quiet voice behind them. Julie turned to see a young boy standing behind her. He had pale white skin, hollowed face with prominent cheekbones and thin lips. He was very thin, his jacket too big for him and standing a little taller than Julie. He had black – brown hair that was short and messy but his eyes were his distinguished feature. A vivid blue. Julie stared at him, mesmerised by him for some reason.

"This is Matthew Bellamy. He'll be the one you're tutoring..."


End file.
